- 042702
Today was the shoot. The weather was a bit hot but the wind made it bearable - all in all a beautiful cloudy day. The shoot was supposed to start earlier than it did, as always, but I had planned for it so it went as well as it could. I've had MUCH worse shoots so I won't complain. There were numerous complications as always (those darn complications, you know?) but, I managed to keep the process flowing throughout the day. We started at 2:00 and finished up around 6:00. I do believe I only sat down to rest for about five minutes today. I am exhausted physically and mentally and horribly sunburned - horribly. We got some really nice shots as far as I could tell on the lcd but they always look a little different when captured - they usually look a little flatter. I didn't have to light anything or use a reflector because of the weather, so in that respect it was easier. Every project has its snags, though. I had some great help today and that works wonders on set. Now, when I recoup a bit, I'll get in there and capture what I need - probably tomorrow.

- 042902
Spent yesterday capturing the footage and finding out I have a computer problem. I've spent a good deal of time trying to fig this out and I'm guessing it has something to do with my DV codec. I've never had this problem before. I'm a bit frustrated but there's always a snag here and there, and I usually learn alot more than I wanted to know by figging it out - this is called "optimism" for those unaware. I'll probably find out at the end of all of it that it's something I did initially to screw it up. Unitl I get this handled I plan on working on the website for "The Making of..." and going ahead with the laying down of the soundtrack. I'm laying down a drum track, bass, and possibly two atmospheric guitar tracks in ProTools (which I highly recommend - it's quite choice). Just trying to stay busy and focused - there's always something to do until it's finished.

  - Oh my god this sunburn, oh my god - I couldn't even go to work today.

- 043002
After research about my computer problem I think I've figged out what the problem is and how to get around it. I can eliminate the problem later, but for now I need to get on with editing. So as not to waste time I've been doing some graphics for the "Making of..." page, and I've started recording a few drum tracks to ProTool around with. Tonight I went back and recaptured all my footage (something I had done already Sunday). Because of my computer glitch I forgot to capture the footage at 29.97 (TV standard). I usually capture all footage at 24 FPS (this also being a habit). This project will make use of slow-motion so, I actually need as many frames as I can get for it to look decent. I recaptured in a little over an hour. There was less than thirty minutes of footage. It's late. I need sleep. Back to bed with sunburn... (cringe).

- 050102
Tonight I played around with the drum track a bit in ProTools. I think I've got something to work with. I let it get a little hot while recording so it would distort a little here and there, but I might add some more - still "tooling" around, though. I also worked on the page while I had video rendering. I had to do some rendered tests before I got too deep into the project such as testing speed and the overall look. I'll probably post some before and after pictures of the effects of the filters I'm using to the page. I laid down most of the footage on the line. As of now I've got a little over a minute on the line - this will change as I go on but it's not too far off from where it will end up being when I finish. It's late again. I get off work at 6:00 in the evenings. After eating and taking a moment to collect myself, not to mention the girlfriend, I usually don't have as much time as I'd like everynight, but pacing is important, too. The sunburn is doing fine, thanks.

- 050202
I tightened up the footage this evening. It's flowing better and better. I did, however, notice a mistake in the script. It called for the ball to be hit into the air, the outfielder steps back, catches the ball, then throws it to first base. If you know anything about baseball, which I don't claim, you'd know that the batter would be automatically out. I can't have my character out, so I had to rely on editing to fix the problem. I feel a bit nescient for the blunder but at least I caught it. 
The look I'm going for is achieved by the following:  desaturating about %65 of the color out, boosting the contrast, and tinting it blue. I like it so far and it's coming out well. There's still a good bit of work left thought - I'd say I'm about %65 done.

- 050302
Didn't get much work done tonight. I watched a movie and hung out a bit. All work and no play makes me think I should work more... er,... hmmm. Anyway, I did get a little done. I had to go back and capture a snippet that I didn't think I was going to need. Always shoot more than you need and get coverage. When you're editing and you have to fix a problem or pacing issue there's nothing like "extra" footage lying around. I tightened up a wee bit on the pacing but most of all tonight I worked on a "baseball in the air" graphics shot. I took some hi-res pics of the baseball in a couple different positions and cleaned up the images. I keyed-out the ball and composited it over motion blurred footage. I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to get it to look good. If it's going to look cheesy then I'd rather substitute another shot. I think it's coming out nicely. I'll most likely get more done tomorrow night. It's so late it already is tomorrow.

- 050502
Cinco de Mayo! Yeah, well, anyway... Saturday I took off, watched some movies, and hung out. Today, though, I worked on the music. I layed down some bass tracks that I'll most likely scrap - not the right feel. I created some more graphics for the webpage and edited a little. I've been trying out things with the editing and the effects to see how they look, and that takes time. I'm at a point where I think I need to finish the music to finish editing so I'll probably focus more on the music until I finish it. Coming along, though.

- 050702
I worked a little yesterday but nothing to brag about. Tonight I layed down guitar tracks. I scrapped the old bass tracks. I decided to do the guitars first to help me with an idea for what to do with the bass - it worked. I hope the piece works well with the video. I think it will. Tomorrow night I'm having company so yet again I won't get much done, but I'm going to try and set aside some time later in the night to at least tweak the music. I guess I'd say that I'm %75 done - if I wanted to break it down any to silly percentages... which I obviously do. So there.

- 050902
I'm writing this a day late. I went straight to sleep. Anyway, last night I tweaked my music a little before I exported and laid it down on the timeline. The music is much longer than the piece, so I'm going to have to chop it up and make it flow. I also want the visual to match up in a few places to certain musical accents. So, I dropped down the music, matched those accents up, and the rest is dictated by this decision. Every once in awhile this doesn't work and it turns out not meshing with the rest of the footage. I don't think this one is going to be a headache, though. The music came out very decent and so far I'm pleased with the process on this one. Every project I take upon myself I try to have a challenge or something that's different from the others - at least to me. This one has been an experience because I have recorded all of the music myself and tried to mesh that with video. It's interesting. I hope to work a good bit tonight and get the music moving the video along - matching edits with beats and such. 

- 051002
Last night I did get a good deal done. I had specific moments to match up with a musical accent - 2 mainly. That means I had to chop up my music in two places leaving three seperate pieces. I then had to push, shove, and nudge to get it to sound seamless. From there you'll notice that some beats match up naturally to the visual and it's nice to try and accent those. I'm pleased. I also added a tasteful lens flare to one of the shots. %80 done. 

- 051102
I'm finally getting close to finishing. I'm at that stage where the changes I make each render are minutia. I've mainly been recording and adding sound effects. I'm releasing this one in stereo so I've been panning, too. I also got a good deal of the textual graphics done today and incorporated them stylistically. I've been working on the page and I'm getting close to finishing that.
%95 complete - I'm at my picky stage. This usually takes a few days. Looking good, though.

- 051202
I have completed the video. I still have the task of compressing and uploading it. I also have to do the html to incorporate all of it into the website. I had a problem compressing because the audio sounded horrible. I usually use IMA 4:1 as my main audio compressor running at 22KHz Mono. What I realized is that when you've recorded something slightly "hot", meaning it distorts a little and sometimes clips, and then you compress it with your average compressor, it more than amplifies the effect and sounds bad. I initially wanted the whole piece to feel dark, grungy, and distorted. I wanted the drums to be a little distorted, but not with a typical distoriton pedal. In retrospect I wouldn't have done this. I chock this up to the learning experience. I did however, for the first time, decide to go with MP3 audio running at 44KHz 16-bit Stereo and it sounds fine. I'll be doing audio in MP3 from here on out. I'm pleased with the work I've done and I hope you've enjoyed or at least gotten something from me tying myself down to this journal. Stay tuned for more from SP.com. Thanks for the read.